The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-25
The Plea For the Anarchists.


The petitions to Gov. Oglesby for par
don or a communication of the sentence of
the Anarchists have now received many
thousand signatures, and others are being
added every day. 1t is matter of comn.o,.
knowledge that, under ordinary circum-
stances, petition is worth little as evidence
! of the opinions or wishes of its signers This
J fact has been made the subject of many
amusing newspaper stories, which illustrate
/ the good-natiured carelessness with which
! most men when requested to do so will affix
| their names to papers of this character.
But these petitions in favor of the An
archists are not surrounded by ordinary
circumstances; they are extraordinary, and
the signatures probably represent more
, nearly than usual the sentiment OF the
signers.
The offense for which these men are con-
demned to death stands alone in the crimi-
nal history of America, and its peculiar
features, instead of palliating its enormity,
as sympathizers with them contend, really
aggravate it. They are condemned for sue
ceSSful conspiracy to murder, but murder was
only an incident-the real conspiracy was
against the State. 1t was a deliberate at
tempt to turn over to the mercies of a flu
rious mob, for pillage and rapine, one of
the largest cities Of the country. The claim
that the conspirators were less culpable be-
cause they attacked the existing order of
society and considered themselves fighting
for the good of the people. shows a strange
confusion of mind in the man who makes it
as to the relative duties of the citizen and
the State. By thSsame method of reason
ing any crime against established authority
could be excused if its author pretended to
have political object.
The point about the efforts to secure
pardon for these murderers which inn
presses the thoughtful observer, however, is
the extent to which their friends have sue
ceeded in convincing laboring men that the
condemned felons are representatives of
their class, and are about to die as martyrs
in their cause. That they have met with
such success is evident from the action of
several labor societies, representing thou
sands of workingmen, who have
adopted resolutions condemning the
manner of the trial and its result as
unjust. They have also contributed money
tions of sympathy were confined to
foreigners, who come to this country
thoroughly embittered toward all govern
ment by the hard conditions under which
they lived in Europe, they would, perhaps
mean very little But it seems they are not
so confined. Many Americans have joined in
the movement, and it is made significant by
their doing so. Does it indicate that as our
society grows older and richer it is dividing
off into sharply defined classes, a member of
either of which will think of himself rather
as one of his order than as a citizen of the
country! This is unfortunate if it be true.
III there is any man in the community
whose interests would be more injured than
another's by the success of the Anarchists
schemes, he is the workingman He cannot
be prosperous without the steady employ.
ment which orderly government renders
possible Even the fear of disorde. will les
sen his chance to sell his labo profitably,
and an actual outbreak of large proportions
would make it impossible. This
being true. and the purpose of
the Anarchists being TO throw the
whole country into confusion and disorder,
the claim that Spies and his comrades
are the champions of labor is preposterous-
they are peculiarly labor's enemies.
tits to be hoped that Gov Oglesby will
be strong enough to ignore the clamor that
is being raised around him, and that in re-
viewing the case he will consider only the
good of society and the evidence in the
case